Explaining the Joint Task Force mission

Photo By Master Sgt. Blair Heusdens | Navy Rear Adm. David M. Thomas Jr., Joint Task Force Guantanamo commander, took the opportunity to thank U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay service members and residents for their continued support of JTF Guantanamo, during recent town hall meetings held at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, March 26. The meetings, which took place March 26 and 28, allowed Thomas to explain the mission of the JTF to service members and civilians who work at the base. JTF Guantanamo conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees, including those convicted by military commission and those ordered released. The JTF conducts intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination for the protection of detainees and personnel working in JTF Guantanamo facilities and in support of the Global War on Terror. JTF Guantanamo provides support to the Office of Military Commissions, to law enforcement and to war crimes investigations. The JTF conducts planning for and, on order, responds to Caribbean mass migration operations.  

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA

04.03.2009

Story by Staff Sgt. Blair Heusdens 

Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – At first glance, U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay seems like any other U.S. naval base, and in many ways it is. With its long history, the base has supported naval operations in the Caribbean for close to 100 years. For the last seven of those years, however, the island has absorbed a separate mission, which, because of its nature, residents don't always fully understand.

In an effort to educate the community of Guantanamo Bay, Joint Task Force Guantanamo commander Navy Rear Adm. David M. Thomas Jr. hosted a series of town hall meetings to discuss the mission and operations of the JTF.

"There's nothing that we do that I would be ashamed to show my mom or my kids," Thomas said.

The briefing consisted of a detailed explanation of the mission of Joint Task Force Guantanamo and what the Troopers involved do on a daily basis to support the mission of safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of the detainees. The briefing is the same briefing Thomas gives to distinguished visitors and media who visit the task force.

"Transparency is our most effective means of giving people an appreciation of our various missions and for dispelling misperceptions about how we perform those missions," he said.

The recent signing of an executive order to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay also presented an opportunity for Thomas to discuss the important and continued mission of the naval station. Many people misinterpret the imminent closing of the detention facility to mean the naval base will close as well, which is not the case. Thomas sent a message to the civilians and military personnel on base that U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay will continue to exist long after the detention operations have moved from the base.

"This base has been of strategic value for more than a century and it will continue to be in the future," Thomas explained to those in attendance.

Thomas also took the opportunity to thank those present for the support the naval station continues to give in providing housing and base support facilities to the members of the JTF.

"[In my years in the Navy], I thought I'd seen it done right before, but I've never seen anything like I have here at GTMO," Thomas said.

• Date Taken: 04.03.2009
• Date Posted: 04.07.2009 08:44
• Story ID: 32110
• Location: GUANTANAMO BAY, CU